Survival of the Fittest
by truelovechick77
Summary: Full summary inside. When the team's plane crashes in a cold, northern forest, they fight for survival.They depend on each other, and nature. But nature causes some trouble too. Strengths and weaknesses are explored. EC. Please review!
1. The Crash

So I've had this idea in my head for a wile. I wasn't going to write this because I don't like to have too many stories going at once (I have 3 up besides this one right now), but I just couldn't resist. I hope you like it!

**POV: Calleigh **

**Full summary: The CSI's have to go to Seattle for a CSI convention. Horatio decides to keep their trip a secret so that the crime in Miami doesn't increase with their absence. But the plane crashes in the wilderness. They think it is unlikely that they will get rescued so they use nature and eachother in an attempt to survive. But nature can cause trouble with animal attacks, starvation, and other problems. EC.**

**Disclaimer: All of the survival tips mentioned in this story are true as far as I know. However, I could be mistaken. If you are put in a position where they might be needed… use them at your own risk. I am not responsible if they are detrimental. You have been warned, so DO NOT SUE ME!**

**Disclaimer 2: I wrote this, but I do not own this. I own nothing. This is not mine. Can I make it any clearer?**

**Sorry for such a long A/N but it was necessary. Please Review! **

Ch. 1

I walked through the airport with my matching bags behind me. I was actually excited to go to the convention that; Horatio had set it up for the team. There was suppose to be top-of-the-line devices there that could help the lab. But he thought that if the people knew that his team was gone the crime would escalate, so he had made sure that only a few of his superiors knew of their absence. He also did not specify when they would come home. Once I passed through security I saw Horatio, Natalia, Ryan, and Eric waiting for me. The later gave me a small smile that made my beating heart melt. Apparently I was the last one to arrive.

"Hi everyone! Are we all ready?" She asked.

"I believe that we are ready…as ready as we can be," Horatio said.

"Actually I want to go into a store and get a few things," Natalia said.

The team walked into the nearest airport store. Natalia got some gum, Ryan got some candy, Eric got some chips, and Horatio got a book to read. Calleigh was decided that she would get a few tabloids, they were her weakness after all.

"The plane leaves in 30 minutes!" Ryan announced.

"We should get to the gate," I said.

"Ok, we are gate…. A7, so we need to head…. Right," Natalia said after she pulled out her ticket. Horatio led, and I followed him. Behind me Ryan and Natalia were chatting pointlessly.

"Hey bullet girl," Eric said coming up from behind me. I'm not sure what surprised her more: that Eric said something, or what he said.

"We're in the airport, I don't think you should say that," I pointed out. I

"You're right, as always," Eric said, which made her laugh.

"I wouldn't say that. I'm not always right, I'm just right most of the time."

"I can't argue with that," Eric said before they sat down on the chairs outside of where they would board the plane.

"Smart choice," I said after I sat down in a chair.

"I know… how long are we suppose to be there?" Eric asked her.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. Horatio hadn't told any of us it seemed. If he hadn't told me, his second in command, or Eric, his third in command, nobody but him must know. I pulled out one of my magazines and began to read it, and I noticed that as I did this Eric began to read a book of his.

"The private flight to Seattle is now boarding," a voice from the load speaker rang. I was the first of our team to get in line to board the plane. Once I took my seat Eric sat next to me, Ryan and Horatio across from us, and Natalia sat alone behind them.

I finished reading my magazines and then just starred out the window at the land flying underneath us. The flight attendant came by and I got a Diet Coke to drink and, the typical, peanuts. I felt my eyelids closing, and was about to go into blissful sleep, when I felt a hand on top of my own. At first I thought it was a dream, but it felt to real. I looked down to see a large Cuban hand holing my own. Then I lifted my eyes up towards Eric's face, but accidentally looked deep into his mocha eyes. Embarrassed, I looked away.

"Oh, um, sorry Cal," Eric apologized to me, and moved his hand away.

"It's fine," I said. I was about to continue when I saw out of the corner of my eye that we were getting dangerously close to the ground through the window. "Oh my God!" I screamed. We were about to crash, and the pilot wasn't doing a thing! "Horatio!" I screamed. He seemed to know what I meant, because he looked out of the window, and saw the danger.

"Get the pilot!" He yelled. Eric ran to the pilot's room, and then he ran back. "He's unconscious. Drunk, I think. There are a ton of empty bottles. One of them spilled on the controls. We can't fly the plane," He announced once he came back.

"Damn!" Ryan screamed.

"We'll have to jump! It is our only chance!" Natalia said. Then she grabbed some blankets to use as parachutes, and handed one to everybody.

"One the count of three!" Horatio said.

"Wait!" I screamed. What about the pilot! We couldn't just leave him here! IT wasn't his fault that he was drunk. Well it actually might be, but he doesn't deserve to die! IT could happen to anyone… like my father.

Horatio seemed to know what I meant because his eyes went to where the pilot was. "We can't save him! I already thought of that. He drank too much. He isn't unconscious; he's dead…. NOW!" Horatio screamed. In his talk he had wasted the time to count apparently.

He, Natalia, and Ryan all jumped. But Eric saw that I wasn't going to yet. "Come on Calleigh!" He screamed. We were just about a hundred feet above the ground.

"I know! One second!" I said, and then I grabbed both of our carry-ons. After I grabbed then he nodded and then we both jumped out of the emergency exit door, with our blankets as parachutes, and flew to the ground. We jumped just in time, because as soon as we jumped it seemed that the plane crashed to the ground and exploded.

I flew down to the ground. It seemed like the blanket barely slowed my decent. But I held on to it for dear life, it was the only thing that could help me! The bags were hanging from my shoulders and banging into my sides, throwing my center of gravity off. The land seemed to be speeding toward me, and my hands almost let of my homemade parachute.

I just missed hitting a tree and then landed on my butt, which was less than pleasurable. Eric very nearly missed hitting me when he fell down a second after me. After I got up and brushed myself of from the painful hundred foot fall I saw Natalia, Ryan, and H all recovering from it about twenty yards in front of Eric and me.

"Come on, we should go with the rest of the team," I told Eric once he stood up. He appeared to be in pain.

"Yeah, you're right again. Bu can you help me? I think I hurt my ankle…" He said.

"Of course. Put one arm around my shoulders and the other around my waist. I'll help support you," I said. He did as I instructed his and then I grabbed our blankets and carry-on bags, and we walked over to the others.

"What took you two… so long… to jump?" Ryan asked, breathless.

"I had to get these. They might help us survive. Nobody knows that we left, or crashed. They will figure it out eventually, but it might take a while…Nobody panic though, it is our greatest danger." I said showing the carry-on bags.

"That… was very smart," Horatio said smiling in approval. I sat Eric down on the ground next to the rest of the team, and then I sat down.

"So, what's in them?" Natalia asked.

"For me there is basic hygiene items, a pair of clothes, pj's, gum, and some magazine. I also have some medicine. Advil for headaches and Claritin for allergies. I don't know what is in Eric's," I said as I emptied my bag.

"Calleigh, your cell phone!" Ryan said pointing to it. I had forgotten it was there.

"You're right!" I said and then I dialed 911 so that we could get rescued. But all I heard was a _beep, beeep, and beeeep. _"No service."

"Damn!" Ryan exclaimed in anger and disappointment.

"Eric, do you have your laptop?" Horatio asked.

"Yes, but it had no connection, I already checked…" Eric said. "I have pretty much the same stuff as Calleigh: hygiene stuff, clothes, pj's, cell phone, but it is out of service, a bag of chips, and that is it."

"Well that is just great…" Natalia complained.

"We should stay by the plain, it might be seen from above," Eric said.

"Are you crazy! It is a biohazard site! Or it could explode… or I don't know!" Ryan said.

"How about we…. We move further away from the plane, but stay close enough that if rescuers come we will still be in the search area," Horatio compromised.

"That would work," I agreed, trying to keep the peace. If we turn on ourselves nothing good could happen. We already had enough problems right now: little food, no water, dangerous wild animals, cold, and that was just the beginning of it! We didn't need to fight among ourselves too!

"Ok, but my ankle hurts. I think I sprained it…" Eric said to the rest of the team. He knew that I already knew.

"Here, have an Advil and I'll help you walk," I said to him. He took my Advil and swallowed it dry, because none of us had any water. All we had were the things in Eric's and my carry-on bags, and the blankets. Then we began to walk away deeper into the forest wilderness.

"Thanks Cal," Eric said after a few minutes of travel. It broke the silence, but I didn't really mind.

"No problem, I know that you would do the same for me," I said with a smile. It was a lot easier supporting him this time because Ryan, H, and Natalia had taken the bags and blankets.

"I see… I see a river," Horatio said, putting on his sunglasses, which had miraculously survive the plane crash.. And I looked up and saw, sure enough, a river twenty feet ahead of our group.

"We should stay there. After all the human body needs three quarts of water a day to stay hydrated," Ryan said mater-of-factly.

"Good job, Mr. Obvious," Eric said. Apparently he was feeling better now that the Advil had kicked in.

"Thanks Delko," Ryan said in return.

"It is getting dark everyone. I think we are in the northern part of the country, based on the amount of time we were in the air. Because it is fall it will get cold at night, so we should stay close together, and sleep under the blankets," I said.

"Your right," Eric agreed. I thought I saw a smile form on his lips, but I couldn't be sure so I didn't say anything in response.

"I'm hungry!" Natalia complained. I almost wanted to laugh. Her hunger was only going to get worse. We were going to have to hunt, or gather, at some point (probably soon) in order to stay alive.

"We can all share my chips," Eric offered. We all dug in to the small amount of food, though it barely satisfied our hunger.

"What will we eat now?" Ryan asked.

"We…. Will survive off of nature," Horatio said.

"How will we do that?" Ryan asked doubtfully.

"We will do it… the only way we know how," Horatio replied.

"First we need to build a fire, it will help keep us warm tonight" Eric said.

"Anyone have matches?" Natalia asked sounding almost hopeful.

"No. I don't think they allow there to be matches in airplanes because it would be dangerous…" I said.

"Ok, well any other ideas?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, flint, Wolverine," Eric said. Then he got up, putting minimal pressure on his hurt ankle, and walked around looking for flint. I got up and joined the search with him, and so did the rest of the group.

"I found some!" I screamed. Then walked back to where we had set our few belongings. After everybody returned I pulled out my magazines and began to crumple some pages. Eric made sparks with the flint, which ignited the pages.

"Nice job," Ryan said. He was right. If Eric hadn't known what to do, then we would all be in more danger of freezing to death, and the odds weren't that good right now.

"Thanks."

"We should add some sticks to keep it going," I said as I tossed some sticks into our small fire. Then Eric added some rocks around the fire to control it. I raised my eyebrows at this.

"Boy scouts…" He muttered, then he winced in pain.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing…" He said trying to brush it off.

"It was obviously something, so tell me. You know you can tell me anything, I already know that you are macho and manly," I said with a wink. He was very manly with all of those muscles…

"Ankle," Eric said.

"I'll wrap it," I said. "Horatio, can you give me my bag?" I asked.

"Of course Ms. Duquesne," Horatio said and then he handed my bag to me. I pulled out my tank top, and began to wrap it around his ankle to compress it. "Now remember RICE: Rest, Ice Compression and Elevation. I know that we don't have Ice, so you will have to make do without it," I said.

"Great, Thanks," He said. He pulled out a book to elevate his ankle on.

"We should get some rest, and enjoy pleasant dreams of food," Ryan said pointing to the moon that was now almost directly above us.

"Yes, we should. Tomorrow we will need to get food and build shelter," Horatio said. We all curled up in our blankets, with out pillows, around our fire in a circle. I was next to Eric, who was next to H, who was next to Ryan, who was next to Natalia, who was on the other side of me.

I stared up at the stars for who knows how long. Just hours ago I had been looking forward to a nice vacation, and now I was worried about my survival. Would we ever be found? And that pilot, he had died because he had been drinking. It could have been Dad…

"Hey…" I though I heard someone whisper. When I looked around I saw Eric smiling at me. "Thanks for everything…" He said.

"You're welcome," I said, then I shook because of the cold. I was use to the heat of the south, not the cold of the north.

"Are you cold?" He whispered to me.

"Not really," I lied. But another shudder gave away the truth.

"Here," Eric said offering me his blanket.

"No, you need it," I said.

"Fine," Eric said. But he scooted closer to me so I could share his blankets, and his body heat. I normally would have objected, but it really was cold.

"How is your ankle?" I asked.

"Fine. I'm sorry about the pilot…" he said.

"You don't need to be," I said. And then I turned away from him so that he couldn't read my face. We stayed like that until we both drifted away to better, happier, and easier places. Places were I wouldn't have to worry about survival. Places with relaxation… and Eric.

**All mistakes are mine. No beta, sorry. I have a lot of good ideas for this story, so it will only get better from here, I promise. Any danger that could possible happen in this setting will be in the story. And so will EC fluff, of course. It will just take a while to build up to it. Please stick with me though! **

**Survival tip: If you are in the dessert stay still in the shade and breathe through your nose to loose as little moisture as possible. **

**Please Review!!!!!!**

**~ Katherine ~**


	2. The First Hunt

**I am having so little time at home to write that I have begun writing at school; I hope it's worth it for you. I don't mind though. It's not like I'm awake enough to do anything else when I get to school. Please review! **

Ch. 2

I woke up to see Natalia still asleep next to me. Wow she could really sleep! I stayed up the latest of anyone, and yet she still slept latter than me! Then I saw Ryan and Horatio tending the fire, and Eric searching for more firewood. Then the wave of cold air encased my body as I got out from under the blankets, and I shuddered.

"T-thanks," I said.

"It is not a problem," Horatio answered.

"You could have woken me, I w-would have helped," I said. I didn't like to depend on people, and they knew that.

"You were too peaceful," Eric answered, and then he ducked his head. He ducked too slowly though and I saw a sly smile form on his lips.

"Does anybody know how long it is going to stay cold?" Ryan asked.

"I checked the weather before we left and it said that it would be really cold for about a week in most of the northern continental US. So about a week, then it should be warmer, but still chilly," I answered him.

Ryan exhaled louder than absolutely necessary and then he got back to tending the fire. Once we finished our jobs we sat down silently. Everybody, including me, was deep in thought. We all seemed to be thinking about all of the troubles we were going to have to face.

"Hey," Natalia said once she woke up and stretched. Then she sat down and joined our mourning. Our silence was once again interrupted, but this time my Eric's gurgling stomach.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"We should find something else to eat," I said. I could tell that he and I weren't the only ones that were hungry.

"We could cook meat in the fire… maybe we should fish," Natalia suggested hopefully.

"With what? Bark?" Ryan asked sarcastically. He had a point, but he didn't have to be so mean.

"Oh…" She said.

"How about porcupine?" Eric suggested. This earned him stares from everyone. "What? Porcupines were once called "the woodman's friend!" They aren't aggressive and we could kill one by dropping a rock on it or stabbing it with a stick. Then we take the quills off, and can eat it! Or if that is too hard we could eat insects…" Eric told everyone.

"That is a good choice," Horatio said. "Eric, Calleigh, and Natalia can team up. Ryan you and I can hunt together. Everyone should be back here in an hour, hopefully with something to eat." Horatio ordered. He and Ryan immediately departed from camp, and Ryan followed him.

"Here. Natalia can you go find some big rocks?" Eric asked.

"Sure," she answered, and then she disappeared from view.

After I knew she was out of hearing distance I turned to Eric, who was piling some sticks together. "Did anybody see us… sharing blankets… this morning?" I asked him quietly. This had been bothering me since I woke up.

"I think H did. He was awake when I woke up. He didn't say anything though. Ryan woke up after me, and saw nothing," He replied.

"Oh, O.k." I said, and then I helped him gather more sticks to use as spears. "Is your ankle feeling better?"

"Yeah, the wrapping really helped," He said, winking.

After a few minutes Natalia returned with some rocks, and asked, "What is the plan?"

"I say that one of us stays on the ground in case we need to stab it, and the other two of us should climb a tree to drop rocks," Eric suggested.

"Ok, who does what?" I asked.

"You two should stay in the tree, and I will be very manly and stay on the ground," Eric joked.

"Sounds good to me!" Natalia exclaimed.

We walked into the woods, traveling the opposite direction that Horatio and Ryan had. After quite a while we decided to stop and begin to "hunt." Natalia climbed in the tree with ease. I attempted to, but being short, I had trouble. Eric gave me a boost, and the he crouched behind a bush that was underneath our tree.

We waited, and waited, and waited some more. All was silent, and the only movement was the slow rise and fall of our chests' from our breathing.

"We should give up," Natalia said to me in a voice that was barely more than a breath.

"No, we need food," I answered, and then all was quiet once more.

A squirrel skippered up a nearby tree, but he was too fast to get. A little while latter a small unidentifiable animal ran past us, once again too fast. We continued our silent hunt, for the faint hope of food.

Then after a practical eternity of anguish, a rather large porcupine hobbled towards us. We began even more quiet and stayed even more still it seemed. But how that is possible, I don't know. Eric looked up at us, and gave a slight nod. On his nod, Natalia and I both dropped our rocks on the animal, and it fell over dead.

We all approached our new meal with caution, almost as if we were afraid of it. Eric flipped it over with a stick, confirming that it was dead.

"I'll go back to camp and tell the others," Natalia said.

"Ok. We will gut it and get the meat," Eric said. I nodded in agreement. She turned back towards camp, and then trotted in that direction with a wave.

I knelt down, grabbed a shark rock and stick, then I began cut into the quill free belly the porcupine to gut it. Eric raised his eyebrows and then asked "How did you learn how to do that?"

"I grew up in Louisiana," I said. It wasn't a direct answer, but it would do.

"Oh," Eric said, then he began to assist me. Then he asked, "Was what I did last night good, or do you wish it never happened?"

"Last night was fine," I said, and then smiled at him to reassure him that I wasn't lying. He didn't even try to hide his relief; he sighed audibly and then smiled bigger than I had seen him in a long time. It was odd he smiled that big when we were stranded with a small chance of rescue…. But hey, in situations like this little things cause a big reaction I guess.

Eric tossed to useless body to the side, we had gotten all of the useful meat. I looked up and saw a pair of eyes glaring at us from behind the brush at us. Then I saw a giant, brown, furry body attached to the eyes.

"Bear," Eric hissed, shocked, just as I figured out what it was.

**Sorry it took me forever to write this chapter. I just couldn't get it perfect. I felt kinda depressed… Please stick with me, the story will get much more interesting very quickly, promise! THANK YOU SOOO much for every single review/favorite! Please review this chapter too! It will help cheer me up…**

**~ Katherine ~ **


	3. Bears and Walks

Enjoy. Life is annoying, so I'm sorry for no updating sooner. Happy Easter/ Passover if you celebrate either. Please review.

Ch. 3

"Die Calleigh," Eric said to me. Does he want me dead? What the hell does he mean? I asked myself silently. Then I saw him fall to the ground, motionless, except for a slight rise and fall of his chest. Then his mocha eye opened a tad bit, looked at me, winked, and then closed again.

Oh, he wants me to fake death. That way the bear won't be interested in us! I fall backwards, faking death to the best of my ability. Personally, I didn't fake deaths that well. But it would have to work, or else I would really be dead. And most likely so would Eric_… His perfect body shouldn't be ripped to shreds. Mine shouldn't either…. But I would rather die than have him die. I love him…_

The bear slowly approached us. Then another followed it. The first one was larger, and much more frightening. It went over to Eric, and slowly bent its head down the Eric's chest. I wanted to see more, but the second bear was making its way toward my body, so I had to close my eyes.

I felt its nose press against my collarbone, and then rub further down to my stomach. I held my breath so that it wouldn't feel the rise and fall of my lungs breathing. After what felt like forever, my bear lifted its nose off of my body, and then slowly walked away towards the meat from the porcupine.

I opened my eyes infinitesimally and saw that Eric's bear was also by the meat. They both sniffed it intently. I looked over to Eric caught him looking at me. I wouldn't say caught, except for the fact that he wasn't looking at my face, he was looking at my body. He seemed to realize that I was looking at him for he looked up to my face in a slightly apologetic way.

I was about to mouth _What now? _To him, but a loud growl came from one of the bears. It was followed by a another growl. Then the larger bear got on its hid legs and attacked the (only slightly) smaller bear. I closed my eyes. It seemed that they were in a fight over the meat. I didn't want them to realize that there were two more, highly edible, and completely defenseless, sources of meat lying only a few yards away from their fight.

Roars echoed through the forest as the two animals fought. The sound of fur and hair being ripped from a bear's body was retaliated by a swipe of a paw. Tree branches cracked, and the leaves on the ground crunched as the fight continued. I felt a drop of liquid land on my leg, and it wasn't raining, so it must have been blood. The snarls and growls continued, and I didn't dare open my eyes to get a better idea about what was going on in the brutal fight.

After minutes of adrenaline filled terror, a sudden silence was heard. Then a thump, thump, as one bear limped away. I cracked my eyes open and saw that the smaller bear was leaving, with no meat, and barely hanging on to life. The larger bear held its ground, clearly the winner of the battle. It put the meat from the porcupine in its mouth, and then walked away in the opposite direction that the other bear had traveled.

I didn't move an inch for a few seconds, just to be safe. Just because the fight had ended didn't mean that I wasn't edible. Eric slowly rose and then walked over to me. I sat up and gave him a small smile.

"Wow," Eric said in shock. It wasn't like he saw a bear fight daily, and nor did I.

"I know, that was frightening," I respond.

"Agreed. We're lucky to be alive…. But I'm still mad that our food is gone. I wasn't about to get in the middle of that fight though," he said.

"I'm glad you didn't you would have been killed, and if you'd been killed I…." I drifted off. I still wasn't ready to admit my feelings yet…

"You..." Eric hinted for me to continue. Then his eyes drifted down to me leg, which was covered with the blood from the bear. "What happened Cal, are you ok?" Eric immediately asked. Then before I could respond he cautiously lowered his hand down to my leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine. One of the bear's bleed on me…" I explained.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked.

"I'm positive," I answer.

"They must have fought really close to you…"

"They did," I say. Eric took off his shirt and then pulled up my pant leg. He used his shirt to wipe blood that had leaked through my pants off of my leg. He set his shirt down and trailed his hand up and down my calf. His touch sent tinkles through my body. We stared deep into each other's eyes, silently communicating, almost as if we were reading eachother's souls. There was clearly sexual tension, but I wasn't going to act and he wasn't going to either. We were co-workers after all. Even if we weren't working right now, and trapped, alone, in the woods…

To end the tension I said, " You should put your shirt on, you'll freeze to death!" Eric reluctantly broke eye contact and then gave a chuckle. He put his shirt back on, I'm glad that he did, don't get me wrong, but it was a great view while it lasted…

The blood from my leg looked rather odd on Eric's shirt. It sure will be interesting to explain to the team…. _Yeah, Eric took his shirt off to clean my leg; no we weren't getting at it…. _"We should get back to camp…" I said.

"Without food? We should get some food first," Eric said.

"Ok, anything in mind? I don't think that we should kill anything right now after that. Later we should, but not now…" I said.

"How about, now don't laugh, but tree bark," Eric said, and then continued with, "it is edible and satisfies hunger."

"I guess," I said. To be honest the idea of eating tree bark wasn't very appetizing, but it would be better than starving to death.

We agree silently to go for a walk and gather bark. Maybe we didn't want to stay where the bear fight was, or maybe we just wanted to walk together. We strolled aimlessly, not really caring where we were going, or where we came from. Every now and then we would tear some good-looking bark off of a tree. But what marks bark good-looking or bad-looking, I don't know, it just does. Maybe it was the hunger…

"This sucks," Eric said.

"It does," I agreed.

"It could be worse though…"

"It could be," I said before tearing out a piece of bark from a tree.

We continued our hunt for bark in silence for a few minutes, before I decided that the silence was painful. "How is your family?" I asked.

"Fine, as far as I know. How about yours?"

"The usual," I said.

"Oh, yeah, um sorry Cal…" Eric said.

"It's fine," I say. Then he turned abruptly to face me, and took hold of my hands.

"No, really, I'm sorry," He said, while staring into my eyes. He made me weak at the knees…

"I know you are. It is fine, it's not your fault…" I say, and then I grab some more bark too break the moment. _Damn it! Why do I always have to do that! I am such a wimp… _"So, what are you missing?" I asked, referring to life in Miami.

"Work, but I don't mind that. Our hours are so long…" Eric said, returning to normal conversation.

"I know," I said.

"What about you?"

"Work," I answered, I do not have time for anything else, nor do I really want to do anything else. Work is safe… My response made Eric laugh again. He's laugh is so pleasant, it takes the tension out of our situation magically.

"I think that we have enough…" Eric said.

"I think so too, lets go back to camp," I agreed.

"Ok," Eric said, but he didn't move an inch.

"Come on…" I said.

"Where is camp?" Eric asked.

"I thought you knew."

"I don't. Please tell me you do," Eric said.

"I have no clue," I said, apparently we each had thought that the other had kept track of where we had walked.

"This is not good, we can't contact the others…" Eric said.

"I know, we need to stick together," I declared.

"Survival 101 for the lost," Eric said. _What the hell had we gotten ourselves into? _

**I think cliffies are becoming my normal ending…Thanks for reviewing the last chapter: emilypfaan, miranda953, ali schmitz, lovecsimiami, me (who is this b/c it isn't me???????), jgirl, C.H.E.A.R., csiawesome, lainiem, and Leighannamaire!!!!! **

**All I ask is that you leave me a review! It isn't too much....  
**

**~ Katherine ~**


	4. Pink and Red

**Hmm… here you go!**

Ch. 4

Light on, light off. Light on again and then off. My eyes fluttered open and closed as I slowly was whisked away from pleasant dreams into a harsh, cold, reality. Wait, it wasn't that cold! It was still slightly chilly, but not freezing like it had been earlier! I guess the cold from was beginning to pass! This shock was enough to get me to wake fully, and pull myself gently out of Eric's arms.

We had slept together last night, well, not in THAT way; we just cuddled together for warmth. The nights were, as usual, colder than the days. I got up and just stared down at him. Eric looked so peaceful when he slept. His bottom lip quivered a bit, and mouthed an unintelligible word. I left him in his sleep, and then turned around to the flowing stream. It was just a few yards away, and close enough that I wouldn't be "leaving" our group of two.

My hair was greasy, and dirt cloaked my skin. My clothes were dirty, and had to smell worse than an ape. Carefully, so as not to wake the sleeping angel, I slipped my clothes off, and then dove into the stream to bathe.

The water was slightly colder than I originally expected. Chills raced down my body, and a chatter escaped from my teeth. But I stayed in the water, and after I adjusted to the temperature it felt nice. I could almost feel the grime being washed off of my body by the water.

I ducked under the water and ran my hands through my hair. I wish I had shampoo, along with soap, conditioner, and a razor. But I would have to make do with what I had. I flipped my hair up, and took a deep breath of air after I finished washing. I sloshed over to the edge of the stream and grabbed my clothes. Then I put them under the surface and let the water do its magic.

After my clothes were cleaned adequately, I hung them on the branches of a nearby bush. I glanced over my shoulders to make sure that Eric was still asleep, which he was. Because I didn't have any usable clothes for the moment, I decided to stay in the stream. It was so peaceful that I actually didn't mind it. I could definitely see why Eric loved the water so much. It truly was another world; a better world.

The nature was absolutely gorgeous. The fish glided in and out of my legs, and birds chirped in the air. I would love tot be hear, if it hadn't been from a plane crash. But other than that, everything was great. I looked down and noticed that I had already lost some weight from being stranded out here. I wasn't heavy before, but now I was definitely skinny.

I looked upstream, and was about to travel back to camp when I saw Eric, in the river, bathing too. My first reaction was to stay where I was, but that wouldn't work. At some point I would have to go back to camp to my clothes. I slowly waded back to where I had been, and about twenty feet short of Eric.

His eyes seamed to enlarge to the size of saucers when he saw me coming in his direction. His brain gears realized that I wasn't wearing clothes at around the same time that I realized that the same was true for him. This was not good; not good at all.

"I-" we both began at the same time. He halted and let me begin. "I thought you were still asleep…." I trailed off.

"I thought that you were gathering food in the woods…" He confessed. Both of our faces were bright red, and our eyes were looking at everything other that the other person's eyes. My eyes seemed to be drawn to his clothes that were piled on the shore. I couldn't be sure, but his eyes seemed to be magnetically drawn to my clothes that were hanging on the bush.

"This is… well…yah…" Eric said awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just smiled tightly to try to reduce the awkwardness. "I'll get out and get dressed, the I'll turn around and you can do the same," he volunteered.

"OK, sure," I said, and then I turned around to give him privacy. He sloshed water onto the ground when he got out. He rustled around and then cleared his throat to let me know that he was finished. I turned around and he handed he my clothes, and I noticed that he hadn't gotten his shirt on yet. I know it was childish of me, but I couldn't help but be embarrassed because my bra and thong when on top of the pile of my clothes. He seemed to be doing his best to not look at them, or me. I grabbed the clothes and held them above the water. He took a few steps forward, and then turned his back to me.

I got the necessities on, and then said he could turn around if he wanted to. I'm not sure what made me do it; it was like I was wearing a bikini, well not really, but kind-of.

"Oh, um Cal…." Eric said once he turned around.

"I know. But all that is important is covered." I said, and then I began to get my pants and shirt on. Eric occupied himself by gathering berries. His face was bright red. Mine was too.

I assisted him with gathering once I could. After we were done we had a few berries that we ripe early, and some bark. We were beginning to get use to this meal, even though it was rather unappetizing. We sat down around the fire, which was now out, and began our meal in silence.

"I'm sorry that was my fault," I said. The silence had become excruciating.

"No it wasn't," Eric said. We made eye contact for the first time all morning.

"I'm sorry. Really. You shouldn't have had to have gone through that…." I replied.

"It was worse for you I think, because I only... well… you have…um... Anyway it was worse for you," Eric said, and once again our eyes were interested in the ground.

"The bath felt nice though..." I said, trying to change the subject back to something that was more discussable.

"It did!" Eric laughed, relieved. After another moment of silence Eric said "Hey Cal?"

"Mmm?"

"I was wondering…. Well… Can I ask you something semi-personal?"

"Shoot," I answered; I was wondering how deep the water would be that I was about to get myself into.

"Earlier, you said I could turn around, but you weren't finished… I was wondering why," Eric said, and looked me in the eyes.

"Hmmm… I don't really know," I said honestly. "It was like I was in a bikini, and you've seen my in a bikini before," I answered, glad that the question wasn't too bad.

"I have. But, I don't know… it was… different. I mean I know that most bikini's aren't a bra and underwear combination, but I meant, the atmosphere, the feeling, was off."

"Yah, you're right, I think. I just, wasn't thinking and was trying to make it less uncomfortable, but I didn't succeed obviously. I won't do it again, promise." I replied.

"No, it's fine!" Eric said, too quickly. "I mean, like, it didn't bother me but you didn't have to…." Eric said, as he traced something in the dirt with his finger.

"That was fast! Do you like black lace?" Calleigh asked. She was feeling adventurous and almost as if to remind him (thought unnecessarily) She slid her shirt down revealing her, black lace, bra strap.

Eric turned pink, and then said, "What kind of question is that?"

"A question. As far as I know there is only one type." Calleigh joked.

"Black lace is nice…" Eric admitted. This caused my face to turn pink, just like his.

After a while Eric seemed to get a little more open and asked, "What do you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing really. Never mind…."

"Boxers." I said.

"Oh, ok," Eric chuckled, and then the silence resumed, and it lasted for the majority of the day. We gathered some more food for lunch, and then for dinner. By dinner the sun was setting and conversation became inescapable; the silence was too painful for both of us it seemed.

"I'm sorry Calleigh," Eric sincerely apologized.

"So am I Eric. Can we… get back to our normal…. less awkward interaction?" I said. I would have said un-awkward, but there was always some tension between us, and it wasn't in a bad way.

"I'd love too Calleigh," Eric said, and then we turned too eachother, and an unseen force pulled us together and we hugged. It felt so… right. Today had been hard, but we had also made some ground too. He ran his hand down my back, and then kissed the top of my head lightly. I looked up at him and our eyes met, and he seemed wary about his move. To reassure him I leaned into him and breathed in his scent for a second. Then, I slowly kissed his cheek.

We pulled apart, and took in what had just happened. It was undoable, yet, I didn't regret it. He didn't either.

"This sucks, but it isn't too bad. Do you know what I mean?" Eric asked.

"I do. Our plane crashed, and we are separated from the others, but, still…." I said. Neither of us was going to admit the star in our black night sky that lightened our attitudes, and hearts. WE finished our meals, with light conversation. Nothing too deep, or awkward, we had had enough of that for one day. Or, at least, I thought so.

"Calleigh?"

"Yes?"

"I know I've said this before, but your friendship really means a lot to me," Eric said, and then he put my hand in his and rubbed his thumb on the back of my hand.

"Yours is in important to me, and I'm not just saying that to respond, I really mean it," I said.

"So where does that leave us?" He asked rhetorically.

I answered it anyway. "Stuck in the woods."

"Ha ha, I know that…"

"You asked!" I defended myself.

"I did, you are right."

After we finished our "meal" we started the fire for the chilly night to come, and settled down to go into a world of dreams. Eric was in my happy and sad reality, and he was in my purely pleasant dreams that night. But before I drifted into those dreams I had one more thing to say.

"Eric?"

"Yah?"

"Good night, and sweet dreams!" I wished him.

"You too," he responded. My dreams were sweet, very sweet.

**I, personally, enjoyed writing this chapter.... A LOT!**

**PLEASE let me know what you though!**

**I LUV Y'ALL and YOUR REVIEWS!**

**~Katherine~  
**


	5. Wolfe or Wolf?

**Well, to add to all my other apologies… So sorry for not updating sooner. Finals and then a busy summer have not helped me write more. ******** I hope that you will enjoy this chapter though!**

Ch. 5

You know that things are getting pretty bad, when you dream about having a nice, fluffy, pillow. This was where my thoughts were, before my eyes fulttered open to reveal a forest. The same forest that I had been in for… way too long. There was no camping gear: just the clothes on our backs. I woke up and stared at the stream. It had caused so much trouble the day before. Hmm… our old campsite had been near the same stream. We had walked… upstream to look for food, when we got lost. That was it! I leaned over Eric and gently tapped him in an attemp to wake him, unsuccesfully. I considered shaking him again, but decided against it. He needed some rest, and we could walk back to the others anytime. I sat there and just stared at him while he slept.

His full lips twitched slightly, and then seemed to smile. His eye lids twitched as well, but peacefully. Hif nose and ears were still. The gentle rise and fall of his chest was reasuring, it almost made me forget where we were. How I wanted to kiss his Cuban lips, and look into the depths of those chocolate eyes. My hands could feel his chest, bare, and strong. His hands could…. My thoughts trailed off, and then I remembered a very important fact. We wer friends, and collegues. All of what we had could be ruined if we tried for more. It wasn't worth it, it just couldn't be. Or could it…?

"Why do I have a pretty girl sitting next to me when I am sleeping?" Eric asked, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Maybe because we can get back to camp by following the river downstream…" Calleigh said.

"Ah! That is good!" Eric said, but I couldn't help but notice that he only sounded partly sincere.

"Lets start now and we can get some food on the way. Is that ok?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied. Then we set off down the stream, together.

Humming tunes, Eric walked with a bounce in his step. Then he whistled. After a while he sung a song in spanish under his breath, he wasn't all that bad, surprisingly. As for me, I walked in silence. But my thoughts, seemed to be screaming in my head. To do or not to do…?

Birds tweeted, and scampering paws could be heard. The woods were so calming. After I decided to not do anything, I enjoyed nature. It was so green here. I got so entranced, that I didn't here my own name being spoken.

"Calleigh!" Eric repeated again, this time tapping me on th shoulder to get my attention.

"Oh, yes?" I said, now he had my full attention, which wasn't a good thing. My foot hit something, and then my chest, arms, and head were on the ground. What had happened? Am I seriously injured? Thoughts like these rushed through my head like a heard of elephants. Then, I realized that I had fallen. A giant tree root had caused me to fall. After he stopped laughing— due to the evil glare that I gave him– he said "I was going to warn you about that… but it is a little bit late for now." He said, which threw him into more laughs, but this time I joined in.

"Ok, ok, enjough laughing at my expense," I said. He stopped, bent down, and offered me his hand. I took it, and got up off of the dirt. He didn't let go though. We continued walking, hand in hand, and made small talk this time.

"That was smooth, huh?" I joked.

"Very. Maybe we should re-inact it and put it on the show 'America's Funniest Home Videos?"

"No way, but you can do it if you want…?" I offered.

"Nope. Your face was better."

"Really… I think that a man doing that would look better. People would expect something like that from a dumb blonde."

"Dumb blonde? Anybody that knows you knows that you are not a 'dumb blonde'"

"It was a figure of speech, Eric!" I said.

"I know, but I had a point.," Eric said, and then changed the topic. "So want to have some yummy forest made breakfast?" Eric joked.

"Sure," we found some bark and berries, then we ate. The food was so needed, that neither of us attemted to talk. I never had thought that I would be so grateful for eating we continued to walk, and the silence continued. It allowed us to hear the sudden silence in the forest, that was soon followed with paws lifting and falling onto the crinkly leafs.

"What's that?" I asked, hushed due to fear.

" I don't know… let's keep walking thought," he answered. We continued, rather quickly, but carefully all the same. After about twently steps we saw a pointy nose poking through a bush. Then two, and later three. Finally the creatures stepped out to reveal themselves. Foam was coming from their mouths, and growls too.

"Wolves," I whispered. "Rabbies?" I asked later.

"No, they are scared, and keeping their distance. They are just angry, and frightened. We should ignore them, and keep our distance." eric whispered into my ear, after pulling me closer to him.

"Lets.. walk throught the river for a while to give them their distance?" I suggested desperatly. I didn't exepect him to agree though.

"Ok, that could work," He said, and then he slowly led us into the water. I lifted my gun out of its holster, so it wouldn't get wet.

"I didn't know you had that. You never mentioned it in your list of caryy-ons!"

"I must have forgotten to mention it, I never og anywhere without a gun. You should know that," I replied, my eyes were still watching the wolves though. They were still on the bank, just looking at us.

"That was interesting," Eric said, in a shockingly calm voice.

"It was dangerous," I say, but I don't allow true fear to leak into my calm voice. We continued traveling in the stream for a while, with out conversation. Maybe he is mad at me, I began to think, until he asked, "I haven't seen the wolves for a while now, lets get back on the land."

"That would be lovely," I agree, and we waded back to the shore. My clothes were tight and clinging to every inch of my body, due to their wet state. I hated it when this happened, it felt strange. With a glance up, I saw that Eric's clothes were doing the same thing, but what else was I to expect? His clothes to have magical powers and not do that? But then I glanced up again, and fully appreciated the view that his clinging clothes gave me. His strong, muscular, chest and abs. The sizable mound inbetween his legs… I reluctantly tore my eyes from his body, and looked at his face. His eyes were partly glazed, but he clearly was still in reality, or at least some of him was. He seemed to be troubled, as if he was restraining himself. I followed his gaze, and saw that it fell on me. Or, particarly, on my chest. "Eric…" I whispered. I didn't try to make it sound seductive, but it did. I raised my hands to grab his, and place them on the part of me that he so wanted to touch, but at the last moment I stopped and just let our hands be intertwined and hang limply inbetween our bodies. "Thank you," I said.

"No, problem. We should continue following the stream. I just hope that they haven't changed camp," Eric said. His eyes were focused—but not looking into my eyes. I didn't blame him, it was awkward for both of us.

"So do I, lets get moving," I said, and them I felt his hands let mine fall back to my sides. It was wrong of me, but I almost wished that he hadn't. Our silence resumed, and yet it wasn't uncomfortable as I had expected. IT was peaceful. Almost as if we were talking, but not audably. After a notable amount of time had passed, we heard some noises. And then, familiar voices. We stopped by some bushes, and looked through them to see our friends.

"Are you ready to return?" I asked without thought, or even understanding as to why I was asking it.

"As ready as ever, it was fun to be with you," he responded.

"I enjoyed being with you too, and um, don't mention the 'stream incident' please," I added, to give point to our conversation.

"I'm not that thick," Eric joked, and then we hugged. With our clothes were almost dry, and we walked throught the bushes together to greet our team, and boss.

"Well, well, well, our two love birds are back. Are you done escaping from us to… enjoy… eachother?" Ryan said. I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious, but I think it was a mix.

"Haha Wolfe, not funny. We got lost," Eric said, saving me.

"I told you so!" Natalia exclaimed.

"Why don't, we let Delko and Duquesne explain, instead of deciding for ourselves?" Horatio suggested, with compation and mercy for us. Apparently he could see the discofort that was radiating from our bodies.

"We went to get food with Natalia, and then we sent her back. I'm sure she already explained why. Then we went for more, and bears came… " I began. Eric and I rotated telling our experience, and left our the more personal parts.

"I still think something had to have happened between you two," Ryan said, mischeviously.

"As I said earlier, we got lost together, but htat was it." I retaliated. It was clear he was messing around with us just for the fun of it.

"Wolfe, we have more serious issues to face," Horatio said. He really was being our savior tonight.

"Right, so. Here is dinner," Natalia said. She gave each of us some fish that had been prepared and cooked on the fire, and then she hugged me. "welcome back girl!" She said, and then leaned in closer to my ear, "I don't believe you," She whispered with a smile.

"You should, it is the truth," I whispered back. Our inadable exchange seemed to draw attention, because all of the men were looking at us questionably. However, they were all wise enough not to ask about it. We ate, and answered more questions about our adventure. But, thankfully, the topic of romatic actions, never came up again. After putting out the fire, and doing a few more chores we all got ready for bed. The arrangements were the same as the first night, so I was next to Nat and Delko. We lay there in silence, each person left with only yhteir thoughts. Some light from the moon leaked through the tree branches and illuminated the ground, and part of my face. Eventually, even breathing surrounded me, or so I thought.

"Eric,"

"Yah?"

"Grow some balls and do it with Calleigh. We all know you want to," Ryan whispered.

"Damn you Ryan. Mind your own buisness," Eric said, and then rolled over to face me. I closed my eyes before he could tell I was awake though. Maybe he was joking, or he could have just been trying to bother Eric, or at least that is what I tried to convince myself. It was no use though, the truth was obvious. In fact, the truth could probably been seen in his eyes, which were most likely looking me in the face. But, I could not be usre of this for my eyes were shut in a fake slumber. Soon, my slumber became real, and I fell into pleasant dreams. Us…. Together… clothes on the ground… in a bed… his hands… But my dreams were cut short, by the sound of a loud snore. My eyes opend, and another snore echoed through the forest, coming from Horatio.

"He's just started that," Eric said.

"Did he wake you too?" I asked.

"No, I couldn't fall asleep."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, just as a shudder rushed through my body. It was colder at night, apparently.

"Here," he said, and then rolled closer to me to share body heat. It was, helpful.

"Thanks," I say, and snuggle closer. Apparently he had taken Ryan's words seriously—or at least to some extent.

**This took me a few days. We went to the ranch, and I shot some guns, but there was no computer. I hope you liked this chapter, let me know what you think about it! Please… **

**Sorry again,**

**~ Katherine ~**


	6. Strange Weather

Ok, I know it is unhealthy but whatever. I'm ignoring the fact that my heart has been broken 3 1/2times in 3 days (and waiting for the fourth time) right now and so I decided to write (and eat cookie dough :P). But, this is helping me indirectly so that should be good. Some of you are getting impatient, and, well, read and see! Oh a review would be nice too!

6

It was all in all a beautiful day. The golden rays of sun escaped through the tree branches and scattered onto the dirt of our "camp site" if you wanted to call it that. The only problem with today is that it was cold. Apparently a cold front had moved in last night. Eric and I had woken up to find that after we had both fallen asleep our bodies had become even more tightly knit. We brushed this off saying that it was due to the freezing temperate. IT probably was, but none the less our bodies fit perfectly together. "Thanks Eric," I had had told him, and he had blushed. I was going through this interaction over and over in my mind for about 30 minutes when Horatio called for a team meeting. This wasn't hard to organize because most of us were already huddled around the fire for warmth. In fact, Horatio and Eric were the only ones not sitting here, and that was because they had gone to pick up some more firewood.

Horatio, of course, stood and looked down at us all. Eric however sat down next to Ryan and across from me. The fire played in-between us and he stared into the dancing flame. Then he looked up, and our eyes met and we smiled. Our silent interaction was interrupted by Horatio's soft voice beginning his speech. "We have been out here for about a week, and still haven't been found. It will probably take a while before we can be rescued. But we are doing fine out here survival wise. Sure we've had a few interesting moments along the way, but other than the cold we are relatively comfortable." Ryan coughed at this, and Natalia rolled her eyes in return.

"We know you miss your pillow," Natalia said, which I laughed at along with a few other people. Horatio just smiled and returned to his speech after a moment. "But the cold is important. I do not want anybody to get frostbite. I don't think that will happen, but we can never take too many precautions out here. If you think you might have frostbite cup your hand over the area. You will know that you are thawing when it begins to hurt."

"Thanks for the optimism!" Ryan said with sarcasm soaking his words.

"You're welcome for the advice," Horatio countered. "However, I do not think that this cold front will last long. A day at the max, but it came last night so things could heat up later today."

"How does he know that?" I heard Natalia whisper.

"Because he is Horatio," Eric replied simply. Horatio just knew things. Maybe he studied a lot, or it could be that he just had really accurate instincts. I believe that is the second of the two ideas.

"So, just keep warm and be careful everybody. Don't be too active because sweat will only make you colder. Get into groups to stay warm, but don't make them too big. How about a group of three and a group of two in huddles?" Horatio asked. But it was understood to be an order. Nobody complained though because it actually made sense and we were all cold enough to try anything. Miami was always so hot that we never had to worry about cold weather back home.

"You should probably assign groups," Eric suggested.

"Ok the big people with the smaller so that they group heat is evenly distributed. So Eric and Calleigh you two are a good match…" Horatio said, which made me blush. I know he didn't mean a good match as a couple, but it was still awkward I thought. "… And then Ryan, Natalia, and I can huddle together."

We did as we were told, and branched into groups on different sides of the fire. Eric and I combined our blankets and slowly lay down next to eachother. We wrapped our arms around eachother (for heat of course) and lay down in silence. The steady inhaling and exhaling of our breathing was the only sound we made, where as Horatio, Nat, and Ryan were all talking together.

"I hope Horatio was right about it heating up later," I say after a minute or two of agonizing silence.

"Me too, but we should make the best of it." Eric responds.

"Ok what do you want to do then?"

"Let's just talk and we'll see."

"Sounds good to me. What do you want to talk about?" I say. I had no clue about a conversation topic, and sure hoped that he had one.

"Hmm…" Eric thought for a moment and then asked me, "What would you do if you could do anything?"

"Where do I start? I would help my Dad with his problem, and my mom. I would also help out a lot of charities. I would also like to…" I trail off before my heart could make me say something that I would regret later.

"What?" Eric asked.

"I don't know. What would you do?"

Eric seemed to think carefully for a while before he answered me. "I would like to help the poor Cubans in my area. They underestimate themselves, it is sad. But I would also like to have a family of my own. Maybe not now, but later."

"Don't we all want that?" I asked.

"I don't know. Most people do, but I'm sure that there is at least one odd duck who wants to be alone and without a family all his life," Eric pointed out.

"I guess… but I know that I want a family and somebody to settle down with," I pointed out unnecessarily. I am such an idiot I thought to myself.

"Cool. What super-power would you want?"

"I would like to read minds. What about you?" I asked him once again in return.

"Super strength," Eric answered. "It would be so cool to lift a car."

"All the girls would love it. Not like you need the help though," I joke.

"Yah. But that's not why I want it. I just think it would be cool. Why do you want to read minds? Don't you not want to know what some people think?"

"Some things could be hurtful, but I'm strong and could take it. Without mind reading you are rarely able to get the whole truth. People lie too much, and I can't use my CSI skills in everyday life."

"That makes sense," Eric responded. But then I felt his toes against my shin. It quickly retreated back to its old place. I tapped his leg with my toe, and giggled. Within a few seconds we were in an all-out toe tapping war, and it was impossible to say who was winning. Then I felt a knee, not a toe, and decided that you can only fight fire with fire… and began to use my knees too. He gave me a particularly hard knee to the thigh, and I returned but thought I hit too high and hit the groin. "I'm sorry Eric!" I say and reach to comfort him. But my mind realized that I was reaching to comfort him in a "special area" a little bit late. I pulled my hand back just after I realized that I actually touched him.

"Cal, I'm fine. You didn't knee me there, thank God!" Eric said. He was ignoring my hand reach, which was good.

"Ok, I'm sorry," I say, and then we changed the subject and went back to our small talk. After what was probably hours, but only felt like a few minutes, Horatio announced that it was probably warm enough to get back to work.

I groaned and stretched as I got out of the position that I had been in for most of the morning. I looked up and saw that the sun was now directly overhead, and it was indeed warmer outside of the blanket than it had been earlier. The weather sure likes to change here, I thought to myself.

"Calleigh?" I turn around to see Horatio beckoning for me to come towards him.

"Yes?" I said once I reached him. He was standing away from the rest of the group, so it took me a second or two to get to him.

"You are one of my best CSI's, and second in command," Horatio stated.

"Thank you, sir" I respond. _Where is he going with this? _I just couldn't figure it out.

"I trust you with my life, and you know that. I know that you want the best for your career as well…" Horatio continued.

"Correct," I say. This was so confusing, and so Horatio. But I wasn't going to let my confusion show.

"But business isn't everything. Happiness in your personal life is important too."

"Where are you going with this Horatio?" I ask plainly, but with respect too. He was a friend, but also my boss so I had to watch that social line. I really didn't like how he was beating around the bush, and gave up pretending to understand. I wanted to know what he was talking about.

"Calleigh, you have always put business first. But I think that you should consider…. You should consider the validity of rules. Some are important, but in other situations they are less important. I trust that you will not let things interfere with you work." He said. I would have found this statement confusing, but his eyes clarified it for me. He was looking at Eric the entire time with a slight smile on his face.

"I will keep that in mind, thank you," I said. It was strange getting romantic advice from your boss. Especially if he was basically telling you to ignore the rules and follow your heart. I would never have expected it from Horatio. He patted my back as a dismissal as if I was three.

I walked back to the group and began my work, but I wasn't really "there." I was lost in a world of confusing thoughts and internal debates. All of which was about one person: Eric Delko. I just couldn't decide what to do. I really cared for him, as more than just a friend, but didn't want to mess up what we had. _If I lost him due to a break-up, that would be awful. It would ruin everything at work. But more importantly I would most likely ruin his friendship. It wasn't worth it…. Was it? I don't know! We might be able to still stay friends and work together properly, right? But it was still against the rules_… I was just so confused. Then I saw Eric and Horatio talking away from everybody. _That was just great! Things would be so awkward now_…. But after a few minutes Eric walked back, and gave me one of his heart-wrenching smiles. _Maybe_….

Eric and I sat next to eachother during lunch. We didn't really talk, but just enjoyed eachother's company. The old saying, "silence is golden" that they use at movie theaters has its merits in real life. WE couldn't talk all that much anyway because Natalia and Ryan were too busy arguing.

After eating lunch (some fish from the river and a few berries that we had found) and listening to Ryan complain about our situation, the weather began to change again. But it wasn't getting colder it was getting stormy. Dark clouds rolled in casting an omniscient shadow upon the forest.

"Wasn't there something in like third grade science about warm air and cold air mixing and brining rain?" Natalia asked just thunder echoed and birds flew out of their trees to find safety

"I don't know! We do chemistry not weather." Ryan said dully. It was clear that he was not looking forward to the rain. Nobody really was, but it wasn't the worse thing that could happen. It could be a blizzard, or ice storm, and I reminded him of this. But he didn't seem to care, and kept on complaining. Eric rolled his eyes in my direction (about Eric) after this interaction and I smiled at him in return.

Within a few minutes raindrops _plinked_ and p_lunked_ onto the ground. Thunder roared and lightening could be seen in the distance. This was going to be a big storm it seemed. I didn't really mind the rain because it was refreshing after all the dirtiness of the woods. But the lightening was dangerous when surrounded tall trees. Luckily, Horatio knew what to do. "We should stay by smaller trees and get away from the river. We all know that water attracts lightening, and so do tall trees. But you don't want to be the tallest thing in an area either. But I don't think that will be a problem because we are in a forest. So we should move," he instructed us. We followed his advice and walked away from the river as a group. In our walk the rain began to fall harder and faster. It seemed that Ryan had stopped complaining, and had switched to optimism. I actually really enjoyed listening to all of his funny childhood "rainy day" stories.

Eventually Horatio decided that we had gotten far enough away to be safe, and told us to stop. We all just broke apart and took where we could. I found Eric sitting under a small tree and wanted to join him. I couldn't really see where everybody else was, but decided that I didn't really care.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked him.

"Of course. Anytime for a pretty lady," he said. I blushed as I sat down next to him.

"Why thank you sir," I tease back and we both laugh at this teasing.

"I wonder where we are…"

"So do I. Once we get out of here that is the first thing that I want to find out."

"Me too. But it hasn't been all that bad. AT least I'm here with you… and the rest of the team," Eric said. But the last portion was rather late and rushed.

"I'm glad to be here with you too. If I had to be stranded with anybody, it would probably be you." I say without thought. _Oh shit! That was way out of line! What will he think? I shouldn't have said that…_

"You would be the person I would want to be stranded with. No doubt about that," Eric said. I could tell that he wanted to add something, but he seemed reluctant. He seemed to rally his thoughts, and added "If any animal were to come and attack us I know that you would shoot it on target."

"Eric, you could shoot it too. You aren't a bad shot, that much I know. But if it were a bear or something that big we wouldn't have enough fire power," I say and bring the conversation back to safe grounds.

"Well I'd trust you," Eric said. The raindrops were sprinkled across his face (and I could feel them on my own) and settled on his hair. He had this small smile on his lips and his eyes rested on me. For a brief second I thought about a response, but gave up. I don't know who started it, but slowly our lips met. His hand rose up and brushed my hair behind my ear and then sunk down to rest on my collarbone. I rotated towards him and made the distance in-between our bodies disappear. He pulled back and had an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Eric." I whisper, and then kiss him gently once more.

**Yah, yah, yah a kiss in the rain is so cliché I know. But I just had to do it! My apologies if you don't like it. I had to have some romance happen because I was impatient too, not just you. Oh, and the fact that my heart is broken might have affected that. In this chapter some of the survival information is right, but other parts I am not sure about. If you would like to know which is accurate and which isn't let me know.**

**Summer is coming to a close, and I am excited for high school but sad for school to start if that makes any sense. **

**A review would be great!**

**~ Kat ~**


	7. Fishing

**My apologies for my disappearance. This is a long chapter, due to my stored up desire to write. Enjoy. **

Morning dew was overpowered by rain that coated each blade of grass, seeping into the brown earth. Golden rays graced through the openings in the trees sparkled against the water drops. Slowly blinking my eyes, I began to realize that I was awake, and not in a dream. Eric's eyes were calm and closed, slightly twitching as if he were still blessed with the presence of a joyful dream. Maybe, just maybe that dream was about me. Were we diving to the depths of the ocean, exploring a coral reef? Laughing together and telling stories? Those both seemed too feminine. Perhaps, we were being more intimate,

Conscious enough to look around I saw that Horatio and Natalie were awake, and preparing for the day. I shut my eyes and slowed my breathing, I was not going to get out of bed yet. After a few minutes of consideration, I moved my hand up to Eric's chest, and did not receive a response. Moving my thumb in a circle, I whispered Eric's name. This time his eyes fluttered open and glimmered with shock.

"Cal?" he asked, clearly confused. His voice wasn't loud enough to gather anybody's attention, probably because I had just woken him up.

"Shhh." I said, and quickly glanced towards Horatio and Natalia. He was still clearly confused by my forward behavior. The way I saw it, we were lost in the middle of a forest. Business didn't really matter. Happiness did, as H had instructed me earlier. Trying to convey this to him silently, I gave s slight smile and then closed my eyes before moving my hand under his shirt, then raising it to where it had previously been on his chest. Opening my eyes for a fraction of a second I saw that he seemed to understand and had shut his eyes as well.

Unsure of what to do next, I waited for his response. He wouldn't reject me, but he might not agree with it. Stopping my uncertainties, he placed his hand on my waist. Slowly and inconspicuously I raised my shirt with my unoccupied hand. His hand remained were it was and sent tingles of electricity through my spine.

Horatio was walked towards us, and bent down near a bush to grab some berries. This worried me, and I quickly pretended to slowly wake up, which was a difficult task.

"Good morning Horatio," I greeted him, and rose from the sleeping bag. This movement seemed to "wake" Eric.

"Sorry, Eric. I forgot that you were there, I would have been more quiet and less flamboyant waking up." I apologized.

"You hardly moved, and certainly weren't flamboyant. I'm just a light sleeper." Eric explained, and stretched.

"Hey, Horatio. Sorry am I late waking up?" Eric asked.

"No, " Horatio replied nodding his head in Ryan's direction.

"What can I do to help?" I asked.

"You both can gather food. Natalia and I already started making a trap. I think we will wait to return to the river on the off chance that it has overflown. Even if it hasn't, there will still be mosquitoes."

"Ick." I say, and promptly walk off to look for food. Eric went in a different direction.

Walking alone in the silently busy woods stimulated thoughts more than I expected. Maybe my morning present to Eric hadn't been good. It could make things unnecessarily awkward. I doubted it, but who knows. But it could have the opposite effect. He could want more than I felt comfortable with. What was I uncomfortable with? He knew me better than anybody I could think of, better than most of my girlfriends. It's not like it would be my first time. Yet we aren't officially dating. This could all be a psychological comfort in a time of stress and nothing more…

After I had gathered the few berries I could find, I returned to the campsite. I was shocked to see that I was the only one there. Normally at least one person stays to guard the campsite.

"Hey Cal," Ryan said as he came out from behind a tree.

"Oh, hi Ryan. I didn't see you at first. What were you doing?"

"I was just looking around. Apparently you and the team left me asleep while you set up for the day, which was kind of you. What is today's plan?"

"H said we would stay at this location for today, and we will probably return to the river tomorrow." I answer.

"Oh, ok." Ryan replied. "Do me a favor and cut the crap about Delko. We all know you want eachother." Ryan said playfully.

"Nah, he's not my type." I replied coolly.

"Sure he is. He's male. What else do you need?"

"Hey, I'm more picking than just settling with any guy!"

"Are you saying you don't like guys?" Ryan interrogated me.

"You never know…" I replied.

"I think I do. In fact, I know you like guys. You dated Jake."

"That is true."

"And now you want to date Eric. Or at least sleep with him."

"Come on Ryan! I am not a slut"

" I didn't mean that…" Ryan backtracked.

"It sounded like it," I countered. I knew he didn't mean it, but this was my ticket to escape the harassment, so I decided to take it.

I gently set the berries down and then proceeded to arrange them in a perfect rectangular pile on top of some leaves. Ryan continued looking around the campsite, probably to subtly leave me alone. He didn't want to be chewed out about it seeming like he called me a slut. I decided to let him be, too.

"Hey Cal," Eric said. He had about the same number of berries as I had, which was very few. Most of the animals would be out because of last night's storm. Horatio and Natalia better have some luck setting a trap, or else our food supply would be very low for the day. We didn't have the river to get fish from.

"Hey Eric. Ryan finally woke up. He is walking around here somewhere." I said to clue him into the fact that we weren't alone.

"It's about time. Wolfe slept like a real wolf." Eric teased. I laughed, and Eric gave a small smile.

"Hey! I heard that!" Ryan said, walking towards us from the woods.

"Good, it wasn't meant to be a secret." Eric responded.

"Come on, it wasn't that mean." I said, trying to keep the peace in the joking argument.

"True. But I can be just as scary as a real wolf," Ryan said, and promptly jumped on Eric to begin a wrestling match.

"Maybe a wolverine…" Eric said. The two men rolled around in the dirt wrestling just like they were little kids. Then again, they probably were little kids at heart.

They rotated having the upper hand, but overall Eric was slightly better. His muscles gave him an advantage over Ryan. When Ryan was slightly ahead, I ran towards a puddle of rain and splashed it on them.

"Calleigh! Come on! I was about to win, why stop it then!" Eric said.

"No you weren't! She was just cutting your losses!" Ryan shot back.

"Grow up you guys! I was just stopping it, not taking sides."

"Sure..." they both said simultaneously, which made all three of us laugh.

The men talked and laughed while I went walking about the campsite. I hoped that I could find a few more berries to increase our food supply. Going hungry would put everyone in a bad mood and cause tensions. After ten minutes or so I found a handful, and returned to the campsite giving up hope. Once again, the campsite appeared to be empty.

I set my berries down in the pile I had made earlier, and considered calling for Eric and Ryan. I didn't want to scare any animals and mess up H's chance of trapping future food, but I also wanted to make sure Ryan and Eric were ok. I got up and walked to the tree Ryan had been behind earlier. Nobody was there. Eric and Ryan both jumped out behind bushes, and water flew down on me.

"Got you!" Ryan said. His shirts, as well as Eric's shirt, were soaked, probably from containing the rainwater they dumped on me.

"All's fair in love and war," Eric explained. "It's only proper payback."

"Sure, sure," I chuckled. They had gotten me.

"What is going on?"

I turned around and saw that H had returned and so had Natalia.

"We were just messing around," Eric replied to Horatio's question.

"Understood. Natalia and I had no luck trapping anything. After an hour we decided to come back. There are only a few berries. Let's discuss the situation." Horatio ordered.

We gathered in a circle where we had slept, and Eric sat on my left side. Horatio was on my right and began the "meeting."

"I had wanted to remain here today, but we are low on food. The river is about a 30-minute walk, and it is probably soaking with rain and swarmed with mosquitoes. We can either return there to fish, or remain here. What do you think we should do?" Horatio asked the group.

"What if a couple of us went back there for a bit to fish, and then returned here. I know how to fish really well from growing up in Louisiana, but I'm not quite sure how to get there." The second part was a lie, but I did know how to fish quite well.

"Who will accompany Ms. Duquesne?" Horatio asked. I secretly tapped Eric's thigh so that the rest of the group wouldn't notice. Eric didn't seem to need my hint though.

"I know the way, and my mom used to take me fishing as a kid too. So we should be good," Eric replied.

"That works. Ryan, you help Ryan make a fishing stick. Natalia, you help Calleigh." The four of us sat in a group. Horatio brought us long sticks.

"Where will we get string?" Natalia asked.

"Ryan, take off your shirt." I said.

"Nah, tell Delko to. He's the one who wanted to go with you."

"Nobody else knew the way, besides H who had to stay with you guys." Eric defended himself.

Not wanting to increase suspicion, I tore off part of my own shirt where it had been ripped b a branch earlier. I separated the strings and then tied them together. Eric, Ryan, and Natalia had all caught my drift and were doing the same thing. The strings were tied together and braided to make two long strings.

"This wont be very strong, but it's the best we've got." The strings were about 4 feet long each. We tied them onto the tip of the sticks and attached sharpened rocks to the end of the string to act as hooks. We had very primitive fishing rods. Ryan killed some spiders and in 30 minutes we were walking towards the river. H was right, the ground was getting soggier every 10 yards and mosquitoes were clearly present.

"May I ask you something semi-personal?" Eric asked. This reminded me of when we had walked alone a few days ago and he asked me the same thing. But that involved black lace . . .

"Shoot," I replied as I had the time before.

"What was this morning for?"

"I just thought . . ." I trailed off. How was I supposed to finish that sentence? I love you was too forward. I want you is too slutty. Eric turned his head to look at me, yet we both kept walking. After a few seconds he seemed to realize that I wasn't going to finish my sentence. More accurately, I couldn't finish my sentence.

"That wasn't a complaint Cal, you know that, right?" Eric asked. But instead of the seductive tone that seemed to belong with that sentence, his tone was compassionate. I guess he could tell this was hard for me.

"Yah, I did," I answered. A smile graced my face and an easy laugh fell through my lips.

"Then why didn't you answer?"

"What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know, the truth?" Eric said. He grabbed my hand and sat us both down on a log.

"What is the truth?" I asked, he wasn't going to get anything out of me. I made a mistake this morning… and the other days too. He was a co-worker, not a potential boyfriend.

"What do you want? One day you act cold, then the next we flirt, and now you have shut down on me again! I don't get it Cal. Tell me what you want and I will try to give it to you."

I looked down and traced random shapes in the mud. Eric just sat unmoving like a marble statue. He was hurt, and I knew it. But how could I fix it without hurting myself too?

I rubbed my hand against the log to clear the mud off of it. Then I rested my head on this chest, and moved my hand up and down his thigh.

"I'm sorry," I said. It didn't fix things, but I hoped that it would count for something.

"It's ok. I'm sorry I pressured you…"

"It's ok." I said, and inhaled, then slowly exhaled.

"Hey Eric, can I ask you something semi-personal?"

"Shoot," Eric laughed, but his eyes didn't sparkle.

I knew it was hypocritical due to my lack of response, but I wanted to ask anything. "What do you want? What is your truth?"

Eric didn't answer, and he just breathed.

"That we should go to the river, or else the others will get suspicious. I don't want to get crap from Ryan and Natalia anymore."

"Maybe we should start teasing them," I suggest. We both got up and continued our walk to the forest. Surprisingly, he kept his hand holding mine.

Once we got to the river we tied out spiders to the string and tossed them in the water.

"How much you wanna bet this won't work?" Eric asked, as if nothing had happened.

"It might, you never know. Indians didn't have fancy fishing rods and they did just fine," I reply. I am optimistic; after all, I was able to see the bright side in a hurricane as Eric pointed out.

"Psh, no way this will work for us. I'm not that lucky."

"Sure you are."

"Whatever you say. Now, really, you wanna bet?" Eric repeated.

"Sure, we will catch one I'm certain of it."

"Wrong. What shall the stakes be . . ." Eric's sentence drifted off while his mind contemplated possibilities. He and Speed used to bet a lot, him and Ryan still do. I am rarely part of the betting group, so this was a special occasion for him I'm guessing. "Ha, I've got it." He said promptly. In response I raised a single eyebrow to silently ask what the stakes were.

"You game for anything?" Eric asked. I figured that I knew what he was getting into, it wasn't that hard to figure out. Besides, he wouldn't ask for anything to crazy.

"Sure."

"Answers. You win, I answer. I win, you answer. Deal?" he challenged. Subtlety obviously wasn't his strength.

"Deal." I replied. We stuck our hands out and shook. Conversation ceased until we got to the river. We were both weighing the odds… and trying to figure out what to say if we lost.

What the hell had I gotten myself into? If I lost, I was screwed. But what if I won? What did I want Eric to say? This fascinated me more than the fear of losing… or at least it did until we reached the river.

The water rushed down stream and gushed onto the land, which was now mud, around it. The relentless current dragged leaves twigs and larger objects downstream. The storm had clearly left its temporary mark on the river.

"This isn't good fishing water. Too rapid of currents," Eric stated. His voice was strong, yet distant. Apparently he was just as preoccupied with the bet as I was. Fishing was a second thought in both of our minds. He was right, so I ignored his comment and sat down on a rock that was near the riverbed.

"Ready to fish?" I asked. Without waiting for his response I flung my string into the river. Eric didn't answer either, but he found a rock near mine, sat, and cast. The silence and stress acted as an elephant in-between us. The absence of conversation spoke much louder than any words we could say.

"This bet isn't that bad, you know? No stress…" Eric said after a few minutes. He clearly wasn't going to change it.

"I know, I just don't like to lose."

"That makes two of us, so we're even." Eric picked his rock up and moved it next to mine while he said this. As soon as he sat down I felt a tug on my rod.

"Ha!" I shouted, and lifted my rod out of the water. It wasn't very heavy but it could be a small fish.

"Nice catch," Eric said. I looked down and saw that a clump of moss was attached to my string.

"Not what I expected…" This made us both laugh. For a moment it was like the increased tension was gone and we were back to how things used to be.

"Maybe next time you will get lucky and get some" Eric said, and promptly laughed at his own pun.

"Very clever Eric, very clever." In response he just gave that gorgeous half-smile with dimples. He knew that smile made it much more difficult to be scolded properly.

"Making off-color jokes around southern ladies doesn't show very good manners, even if we have had conversations about sex before."

"Being in undergarments around guys doesn't show very good manners either," Eric stated, he clearly hadn't forgotten that.

"That wasn't a big deal. A gentleman would have turned away."

"I was shocked, what was I supposed to do?" Eric said. Our playful teasing was turning into something more. I had unintentionally put him on the defensive.

"What you did wasn't bad," I replied. It wasn't a very definite answer, but it was the best I had.

"You sure?" Eric asked. I couldn't help but notice where his eyes strayed, again.

"It's human." I replied.

"Woah!" Eric exclaimed His rod was being pulled. He quickly yanked it up.

Attached to the bottom was a squirming, wet, turtle. Apparently the sharp stick had jammed into his mouth making it unable to reopen, yet it didn't seem to have punctured his skin.

"That so doesn't count," Eric said.

He was about to toss it back into the stream, when I yelled, "No, wait!"

"What?"

"We can probably eat it. We have been out here for at least an hour, we shouldn't stay here much longer."

"Ok, sure. Let's go back. It still doesn't count." Eric stated.

"Yes, it does. We caught an animal successfully with these primitive rods, I win."

"We did not catch a fish however, which was the point. So no, I win." Eric retaliated.

"No, you didn't." I was not going to back down on this.

"Yes, I did." Eric said. He was all smiles, and clearly enjoyed this.

"I won. But I'll make a deal for you. You concede that I win… and I will answer the question before you have to." Honestly, I was uncertain and scared shitless as to what was about to happen. But I just couldn't wait any longer. Something had to be done. When I was a little girl my father had called me "Captain Calleigh." I had never been one to sit back and let others lead.

Eric weighed his options. He seemed to be taking this really seriously. After a few minutes of walking in silence he came to his decision. "Deal." We both sat down on an overgrown tree root that protruded through the ground.

"What do you want? What is the truth?" Eric prompted after a few moments of my silence. He placed his hand on my thigh to comfort me.

"I want to be able to trust you completely. I'm... uncertain as to whether this is safe or not. We are co-workers, yet we are something more. I feel it, and so do you. Dating co-workers isn't safe…but nothing is safe. Is that a satisfactory answer?"

"Yes… and no. You've explained what you want and what you think, but not how you feel." Eric replied, and took a deep breath. He seemed more nervous than I was. His shy demeanor might be why it was so hard for me. I'm so used to guys being up-front, and Eric wasn't like that. He went deeper than that. Sure, he had a stage were he banged in girl he could. But we all had ways of dealing with Speed's death, and that was his way.

"Calleigh, when I first met you I knew that you were the happiest, prettiest girl I had ever seen. Then I got to know you, and saw your cunning intelligence and emotions, even those that you tried to hide. All of that made me like you even more. After spending all of my years at CSI with you, my compassion for you has grown even more. I want to know what you feel." Eric said. In a way, he was giving his answer. He was explaining his feelings, but he wasn't explaining what he wanted.

"Eric… you're special to me. You know that."

"Do I? You take that for granted."

"Maybe…" I replied. Eric wasn't going to make the first move. I knew he wouldn't. He thinks I'm cautious, but he isn't confident around me in the romantic area.

"Is this what you want?" I lean in and press my lips against his. His mouth opened, and our tongues mingled. His strong arms enclosed my tiny waist and pulled me onto him. Then he abruptly stopped and leaned away from me.

"You know I want this, and want to be with you. I haven't hid that very well. But is this what you want?"

"Eric, I want the same thing," I answered. For once I was doing what I wanted instead of what was proper. To reassure him I kissed him again. It felt like we were in high school and making out behind a bus, or something along those lines. He took his shirt off, and I felt his defined abs. Of course we had to return to the temporary campsite, but a few minutes more wouldn't hurt.

"Are you sure?" Eric asked when I removed my shirt.

"Now or never," was my short reply. Eric had his fun, but never removed my bra. He was more respectful than I gave him credit for.

"We better go back now," I regretfully say after 10 minutes or so.

"I know," Eric said. We re-dressed and walked back. While walking we were hand in hand, and glued at the hip.

"How long have you wanted that?" I asked.

"Forever. You?"

"Long enough," I reply. We continued chatting until we were within sight of the camp.

"Hey, Cal?"

"Yes Eric?"

"You're really special."

"So are you Eric, but you know that right?" I asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"That's not what I meant." Eric said. He pulled me behind a tree so that we were out of view of the campsite. His arms were pressed against the tree on either side of my hips. "I meant that you are really special to me."

"Eric, you're just as special to me."

Eric kissed me once more. Before we walked to the camp I whispered, "Let's not mess this up" before taking a few steps away from him.

"Well, it was semi successful." I announce once we get to the others.

"What do you mean?" Natalia asked.

"We caught a turtle," Eric answered.

"Bs, what really happened?" Ryan asked.

"We caught a turtle," Eric answered once again. This time he pulled the turtle out from behind his back. Everyone broke into hysterical laughter.

"Oh my god, that was unexpected," Natalia said once everyone had quieted down.

"Certainly, but we will make the best of it. That is all we can do," Horatio said. Horatio went to work attempting to pry the shell off of the turtle so that he could get the little meat he could off of it. The turtle was only about 7 inches in diameter, so that wasn't much meat. Everyone seemed fine; after all we could survive a day with little food. We didn't eat much normally when we were involved in a case.

"So, else happened besides turtle fishing?" Natalia asked suggestively once H was out of hearing range.

"Um... Calleigh caught moss," Eric answered pretending like he had no idea what they were referring to.

"What else?" Ryan asked.

"We spent over an hour fishing ineffectively while being stranded in the wild. Nothing happened, Ryan," I replied. My voice was chilled, and everyone seemed to back off afterwards.

We made small talk until Horatio admitted defeat to the turtle. There was no usable meat on it, and nobody wanted to eat its organs.

After finding a few dry branches we made a fire and huddled around it as the sun set. Eric's skinned glowed in the light of the fire, or maybe his internal joy caused his glow. Natalia's eyes sparkled, and Horatio's red hair shown brilliantly. Ryan enjoyed the heat and leaned towards the fire contrasted brilliantly with the yellow blazes. Here we were, without make-up, decent showers, or fashionable clothes, yet we all looked happy. Humans fascinate me with their possibility for good, as well as their capability of evil.

"I wonder how close they are to finding us. . ." Natalia asked aloud, breaking the peaceful silence.

"As close as they can be, it will take them a while," Horatio stated.

"Let's make the best of it. We spend a lot of time with each other normally, but now we can be a real family and spend complete days together!" I joke.

"That's exactly what we all want!" Ryan sarcastically joked back.

"We'll be able to do it…. Provided we don't get eaten by bears, attacked by wolfs, dehydrate, starve, or go insane and kill each other," Natalia says with a smile.

"That makes us all look on the bright side, thanks." Eric said. "I promise I won't kill any of you, or eat you."

"That was a joke."

"Well I promise anyway," Eric said.

"So do I," H said with a smile to back up his #2 man.

"So do I," the rest of us all said one after another.

Slowly Natalia and Ryan each drifted off to sleep. Horatio, Eric, and I were the only ones up.

"I've never been able to sleep well. There is just too much to think about," I whisper.

"That, is the same for all of us I believe" Horatio stated. He got up and walked away, to have time alone to himself. He must be worried about us all. Horatio had always been my second father, and he worried about us as so. Or he could be giving Eric and I some time. He had a gut sense most of the time. But when he returned quickly I figured he hadn't left for our sense. He came back and added some more dry wood to the fire. Apparently he had noticed that it was dying.

"Night, angel" Eric said. I felt his hand cautiously slide up my body and rest on my waist. He rubbed my skin leaving a path of heat in his finger's wake.

"Night babe," I said, and rubbed him. I fell asleep to the feeling of Eric's hands on my body, as he closed his eyes and slept to my hands resting on his body under our slim cover.

In this joy and peace I couldn't help but wonder what things would be like the next morning.

**Do you like it? Please let me know, it helps motivate me to continue.**

**I missed FF and all of my readers.**

**~Katherine~**


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